Roasted Broccoli Soup #recipe from Molly MacRae

 

Brrrr, it’s cold here on the windblown prairie of central Illinois, and soup is just the thing. This soup is delicious and the kind of recipe that lets you add and subtract ingredients depending on what you have in your kitchen or what you have a hankering for. Add another potato, cheddar cheese, and bacon and it’ll taste like a loaded baked potato. Sauté sausage with the onion and garlic and you’ll feel hearty enough to go out and shovel the walks.

We had delicious za’atar feta scones with our bowls of soup. MM-mmm.

 

Roasted Broccoli Soup

Adapted from Melissa Clark in The New York Times.

 

Ingredients

 1/4 cup olive oil, divided

2 pounds broccoli, separated into small florets, stems peeled and roughly chopped

2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 large onion, diced

5 or 6 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 pound potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (about 1/8 of an inch)

1/4 teaspoon lemon zest

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

Grated Parmesan

 

Directions

Heat oven to 450 degrees F.

Divided between two sheet pans, toss prepared broccoli with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil (1 tablespoon per sheet). Roast the broccoli until parts of it begin to brown deeply and caramelize, 20 to 30 minutes (or longer if the broccoli is quite wet from rinsing). If your pans need to be one above the other in the oven, rotate them halfway through roasting.  

In a large soup kettle, over medium-low, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the onions and garlic, black and red peppers, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. 

Cook until the onions and garlic are soft and translucent (or until they begin to caramelize if you want a deeper flavor). Add the potato to the pot with 4 cups of water and the remaining 2 teaspoons of salt. Bring to a simmer, cover the pot, and cook until the potato is just tender, 10 to 15 minutes. 

Add the roasted broccoli and cook until tender, another 10 to 15 minutes.  

Add the lemon zest and roughly puree the soup with an immersion blender, leaving some small chunks for texture. Stir in the lemon juice. Serve with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

 

💕  click here for a free, printable pdf of this recipe  💕

 

Now available for pre-order – All Shell Breaks Loose

book 3 in the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries!

On North Carolina’s Ocracoke Island, Maureen Nash sells exquisite seashells to locals and tourists—with Bonny the shop cat and the ghost of a Welsh pirate for company. And when needed, she steps in to help the police solve a murder . . .

Dr. Irving Allred is boasting around town that he’s about to get his hands on an authentic haunted sword. But minutes after Maureen hears the story, a woman walks into the Moon Shell, sword in hand. She found it while walking her bulldog on the beach—and its blade is stained with what looks like blood. Looks like it’s time to call the sheriff’s department.

Allred is furious that his prize is now in police custody—and even more agitated that an unknown buyer was trying to outbid him. He’s convinced the sword will lead him straight to the ghosts he’s been hunting. He’s not the only one on the Outer Banks who’s been searching for spirits, though. An odd visitor also showed up at Maureen’s shop claiming the ability to sense them . . . though somehow she didn’t seem to notice Maureen’s spectral friend hanging about.

When a man who’d been camping nearby is found cut down along the shore, Maureen starts providing some unofficial assistance to Captain Rob Tate by digging into the island’s maritime history. But it’s not the only mystery she’s facing—because the shop’s resident ghost is seeing ghosts himself . . .

 Happy reading!

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch, she writes books for Annie’s Fiction. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Instagram or Bluesky.

 

 

 

 

Za'atar Feta Scones #recipe from Molly MacRae

Can you ever have too many scone recipes? Here’s one for savory, zesty scones that are the perfect accompaniment for salads, soups, stews, eggs, you name it. Za’atar has been mentioned in a number of recipes at Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen over the years. I think Leslie Budewitz likes it as much as I do. Among other recipes she’s posted with za’atar are her Red Pepper and Orzo Soup and Turkish Scrambled Eggs with Tomato. Za’atar is one of those seasonings that varies depending on the brand or country of origin. I’ve included an easy recipe, below, to make your own.

Za’atar Feta Scones

 

Dry Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon za’atar seasoning (store bought or homemade according to recipe below)

Zest of 1 lemon

1 1/2 ounces shredded cheddar cheese

4 ounces crumbled feta cheese

1/2 cup butter cut into 1/4-inch cubes and chilled (or frozen)

 

Wet ingredients

1 large egg

1/3 cup plain, thick Greek yogurt

Juice of 1 lemon

 

To sprinkle on top

2 tablespoons milk or cream

1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds (optional if, like me, you ran out)

1 teaspoon za’atar seasoning

 

Homemade za’atar seasoning

1 teaspoon each dried thyme (or oregano), cumin, coriander, toasted sesame seeds, and sumac.

Rounded 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Mix all ingredients together. Store leftover za’atar in an airtight jar.

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients, except butter and cheeses. Use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour mixture until the butter is the size of green peas. Add cheeses and toss to thoroughly coat with flour.

In a small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Make a well in the flour mixture and pour whisked wet ingredients into it.

Gently fold the flour into the wet ingredients until the flour is taken up and you can get your hands in the bowl to knead a few times and form a ball.

Transfer the ball to a pizza pan lined with parchment paper. Gently pat the ball into a flat disk, about 8 inches across, keeping the edges neat.

Brush the disk with the milk or cream and then sprinkle with the sesame seeds and za’atar.

Cut the disk into eight pie wedges but don’t separate them.

Bake the scones for fifteen minutes, then remove from oven and gently separate the wedges with a pie server so that air can circulate around them.

Return to the oven and bake 8 to 10 minutes more. 

Click here for a free, printable pdf of the recipe

🍂🍂🍂

Take time this fall to curl up with a trio of cozies – a drink, a treat, and a good book. May I suggest a bit of armchair travel, too?  Visit Ocracoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina, in the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries.

 

Or travel to the Scottish Highlands in the Highland Bookshop Mysteries.

 

Spend time in northeast Tennessee in the Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries, two stand-alone mysteries, and a collection of short stories.

 

Or travel from Cape Cod on the east coast to Monterey on the west coast, with a stop in Ohio along the way in my very gentle mysteries written as Margaret Welch.

 

Happy reading!

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch, she writes books for Annie’s Fiction. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Instagram or Bluesky.